Moments ago President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House.

Prime Minister Modi is currently in United States in the second leg of his three-nation tour. This is PM Modi’s fourth visit to the US. However, this is his first visit to US with President Donald Trump, and comes at a time with Geo-strategic security and and economic trade interests at the forefront of policy issues for both countries. (Video and Pictures below)

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There was a widely read Chicago Tribune op-ed written a few days ago outlining an approach to dissolve the entire state and apportion the geography to Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Iowa. –SEE HERE–  It was written tongue-in-cheek, but with an uncomfortable level of reality behind it.

Illinois has been struggling with its finances for a long, long time.

The Illinois long-term labor pension liabilities are ridiculous in the extreme.  However, things just went from bad to jaw-droppingly, gobsmackingly, unbelievably worse.

According to the latest financial media reports, Standard and Poors Global Ratings agency has positioned Illinois bonds to drop below “investment” grade; that would make Illinois the first state in the nation to achieve “junk bond” status.

(Via ABC) Illinois is on track to become the first U.S. state to have its credit rating downgraded to “junk” status, which would deepen its multibillion-dollar deficit and cost taxpayers more for years to come.

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Details are beginning to surface of a fraud investigation that began in 2016 as a result of complaints about Jane Sanders and her role in obtaining multi-million-dollar loans for a now defunct (closed in May ’16) Burlington University.  Many people might remember the origins of this story which began long before the presidential primary season last year.

BACKSTORY – At the end of 2010, Mrs. Jane Sanders took out $10 million in loans on behalf of Burlington College to purchase a 32-acre swathe of land from the Roman Catholic diocese, which put the land up for sale to help cover the costs of a $17 million sexual-abuse settlement

As Ms. Sanders pursued financing for the land acquisition, she repeatedly said that Burlington College had received more than $2 million in fundraising commitments and pledges, according to numerous records. However, in fiscal year 2011, Burlington College raised only $279,000, though the college had earlier claimed to have secured $1.2 million in confirmed pledges.

The college almost immediately fell short on its financial obligations as the fundraising pledges and commitments Ms. Sanders cited in loan agreements never materialized. Less than a year after leading Burlington College into massive debt, Ms. Sanders resigned, taking with her a $200,000 severance package.  The college was forced to close in 2016.

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Before the Cedar Rapids MAGA rally, President Trump visited Kirkwood Community College for a speech on agricultural innovation with governor Terry Branstad and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue.

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Intensely successful leaders, the ones of serious consequence, listen intently to the voices of people closest to the work before embarking on transformation. The expertise is always closest to the work. The most successful titans of industry have always kept themselves deeply connected to the actual work.

[VIA Mike Rowe] Barry Stout‎ writes… OMG did you have a chat with the President and Ivanka? I was just listening to the announcement and presser about 6 million open jobs in the country…Who knew?!

Ken Lucke writes… Did you write the comments for Sec. Acosta this morning? He sounded almost like you in his push for apprenticeship and vocational training. Your thoughts?

Sean Brink‎ writes… Thought I’d share this article with you, in case you hadn’t seen it. Sounds encouraging towards your pursuit. Ivanka Trump: CEOs can’t fill 6 million jobs, more skill-based training needed.

Gentlemen:

It’s been very gratifying, (and maybe a little vindicating,) to hear so much talk about the skills gap over the last 48 hours. To answer your question, Barry, yes – I did meet with some people from The White House a few weeks ago.

I happened to be in DC when I got an email inviting me to discuss mikeroweWORKS with the Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison. George Sifakis and his team were kind enough to meet me at my hotel in Georgetown, where I shared with them my belief that closing the skills gap will only happen if we reinvigorate the trades, and make a more persuasive case for the jobs themselves.

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Commerce Secretary Wilbur “Wilburine” Ross sits down for a big picture conversation to discuss the upcoming NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) trade renegotiation.

This interview is well worth the time to understand the dynamics and objectives of the Trump administration.

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We are incredibly blessed to have Wilbur Ross, Steven Mnuchin (Treasury) and Robert Lighthizer (U.S. Trade Rep.) as the leading edge of the new America-First economic revitalization.

These U.S. policy titans of trade, finance and commerce are the most comprehensively well-skilled people we have had assembled in our lifetime.

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United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir hold a press briefing shortly after President Donald Trump and Saudi King Salman signed a series of agreements, including a military sales deal.

Expansive Transcript to include the media question and answer session is provided.

[United States Office of The President and U.S. Department of State]

Important Reminder – The scope of the economic impact of this ‘bilateral’ trade agreement has additional benefits when you consider within the next 12 months the U.S. Trade Team (Ross, Lighthizer, Mnuchin and T-Rex) will be renegotiating NAFTA, and bilateral trade with China, the European Union and the U.K. 

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-JUBEIR: Are we ready? Okay. Good evening, everybody. I would like to welcome all of you to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It’s a great pleasure and honor for me to welcome my colleague and friend Rex Tillerson on his first visit to Saudi Arabia as Secretary of State. Mr. Secretary, while this may be your first visit as Secretary of State, you have been here many, many, many times over many, many years. You know our country and our region extremely well. And I believe your country is fortunate to have you as Secretary of State during this period. We in the region feel very fortunate having you at the helm of the State Department.

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Carson Huey-You graduated yesterday from Texas Christian University with a degree in physics and dual-minors in Chinese linguistics and Applied Math.  He enters graduate school next fall en route to a Phd in Quantum Mechanics.

Oh yeah, well, he’s 14-years-old ….and on pace to achieve his Phd in physics and applied and theoretical sciences before he will be old enough to vote.

…”It is just something I have learned to deal with because, to me, I am not a genius. I am a normal 14-year-old person doing college-level stuff.”

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President Donald Trump highlighted his commitment to faith, and to faith-based education, today with his decision to deliver the commencement speech for Liberty University and the graduating class of 2017.

President Trump delivered a wonderfully uplifting speech to the graduating class with a  genuine appreciation of faith and, of course, his customary humor.

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Yesterday President Trump hosted Victory Christian Center School Model Rocket Team from Charlotte North Carolina at the White House to celebrate their advancement in the final competition of the 2017 model rocket challenge.

The team named their model rocket “Trump”.

@01:58 •President Trump:  “How did you come up with the name ‘Trump’, anybody have an idea?”
•Student: “Simply because it conquers all.”
•President Trump: “Ohhh, they’re never gonna put that on television.”

LOL

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